Moran Prairie Messenger
Weekly Moran Prairie Family and Community Newsletter
Friday September 15th:
Highlights for the week:
- Mr. Cloninger used his PE classes this week to teach rules to Gaga Pit to all classes!!
- Mr. Hayes' class helped film a training video for an upcoming safety drill!
- Ms. Campbell had one class painting with shaving cream during art!
- Mrs. Shaw had students in music writing why they love music. They put together a schoolwide puzzle to highlight our music appreciation!
- Helpful volunteers ran our first Friday DIGS Store!
- Mrs. Beal's first graders learned about responsibility and how to be a good citizen!
- Mrs. K Brown's third graders are building robots and writing about them!
Principal Update
We are now two weeks into the school year and things are starting to settle into a routine. We've been enjoying our new virtual announcements recorded by Mr. Heinen, Mrs. Lorimer, or Ms. Hellenthal each day. Students and staff showed up in support on our first Prairie Dog Monday wearing school gear or colors. ASB is getting back together again, PTG finalized planning for their first event of the year, and today is our first Friday DIGS Store of the year! Students are cashing in their DIGS dollars for items from our treasure box, help on the morning announcements, reading to a K-2 class, lunch bunch, and more! Dr. Swinyard paid us a visit today to see all the incredible things going on!
While our theme this year is "don't just fly - soar," we are also reminding students every day the positive traits we are working to instill. We ask ourselves: what does a prairie dog do? It DIGS!
- Demonstrate kindness
- Integrity
- Give 100%
- Safety
Students learn about each of these traits and how we put them into practice at school! It's helping to set expectations and positively reinforce good habits. Ask your student how they show DIGS behavior at school!
Ongoing Reminders
- If your child is biking to school, please provide them a lock and remind them to lock their bike. We have quite a few unlocked bikes as well as an unlocked e-bike; we can help as well, just let us know!
- Morning arrival/dismissal: please do not park your car in the drop-off loop and then walk away. If you are in the loop, please remain in your car to move forward as traffic does, or please park in the regular parking lot. Many families have been pulling into spots on the drop-off loop, parking, and leaving their car. This prevents other cars from pulling in and out, holds up traffic, and makes drop-off and pick-up more complicated for all. If you plan to leave your car, park in the parking lot that all the staff cars are in or up on Yale.
- When letting your students out of the car, please have them exit the car on the curb side not the street side. We have many cars driving past, exiting the curb side keeps everyone safe!
- Please look for the bus signs on the far east side of the drop-off loop, and do not park in any of the spots indicated by the arrow on the signs. This is the space provided for our special busing and other alternate transportation. If you park here, our transportation cannot get to our students.
- One Spokane Stadium will celebrate its ribbon cutting on Sept. 26 at 11 a.m., the unveiling of Joe Albi Way and Plaza on Sept. 30 at 10:30 a.m., and will host a community open house on Sept. 30 from 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
- Please label all your student's belongings! Backpacks, lunchboxes, water bottles, extra clothes, and more! This helps us return lost items to their owner rather than placing in the increasingly full lost and found!
- SPS has created a ThoughtExchange for the board to gather input on two options for the 2023 bond. The ThoughtExchange is open to staff, parents and other community members from Sept. 8 through Sept. 22.
- Want to play basketball in the winter? Any and all students can join a Hooptown Team, sign up here! We are the Ferris + Bryant Registration.
Find our new Moran Prairie Instagram and follow us for regular updates of the amazing things we're doing this year!
Cross Country for 1st - 5th Grade
Cross country began this week. Practices are every Tuesday and Thursday (except on meet days) from 3 - 4 pm. Families pick up at 4 pm on the blacktop. 2nd - 5th grade has two meets this season at Grant Park. There are no 1st grade meets, on those days practice is canceled for them. Rather, 1st grade students will have time trials at Moran on a separate date. Students must have attended a minimum of 3 practices to participate in a meet. See the schedule below for important dates!
Specialist Highlight!!!
This week, we're featuring our K-5 music teacher Mrs. Shaw!
This month's Purposefull People trait is Respect!
ASB Returns!
A message about the start of ASB from your staff advisors Mrs. Lemmon, Mrs. Rassier, and Mrs. Smith:
Moran Prairie is in search of leaders to participate in ASB this school year. Each classroom teacher in grades 3-5 will nominate 2 students as ASB classroom representatives. Starting Monday 9/18, please pick up an ASB application from your teacher and return it no later than September 22nd. Last year, ASB made tie dye t-shirts, helped pick up trash on the school grounds, selected the costumes or outfits to wear during spirit days, and more to help improve our school! This is a fun group who works hard to make a difference in our school community.
Some qualities we are looking for in an ASB rep include the following:
- Someone who demonstrates kindness and always does their best to include others.
- Someone who has integrity. When nobody is looking, they do the right thing. This person is a role model and leads their peers by example. We want someone who gives 100% at school and will give 100% in ASB.
- We are looking for someone who wants to make our school a better place. It may include community work, making banners, fundraising, and more.
- We want a leader!
If your student is interested in ASB, they will need to get the application from their teacher. After answer the questions, they'll need one teacher who is willing to sign the form and in one sentence tell why they would be a good candidate for an ASB rep.
if selected, meetings are monthly on the first Monday of the month (except January and Apil, those are the second Mondays). They are after school from 3 - 4 pm.
Reach out to staff advisors with any questions!
Counselor Corner
It has been a busy week visiting classrooms to talk about what I do as a school counselor at Moran Prairie. Students were reminded that if they have a problem, they can fill out a "Let's Talk" form and that is a great way for me to know they need to talk with me.
Chase Middle School's CCTV
Will return next year!
Upcoming Dates
- Friday September 14th: PTG Family Fun Night @ 6 pm on the back lawn
- Monday September 18th: Student late start at 9:30 for staff collaboration, Prairie Dog Monday
- Tuesday September 19th: Cross country after school, PTG Meeting at 6:30 pm in the library
- Monday September 25th: Student late start at 9:30 for staff collaboration, Prairie Dog Monday, Cross Country Meet 2nd - 5th grade
- Tuesday September 26th: No Cross Country K-5
- Thursday September 28th: Cross Country practice after school
- Friday September 29th: All School Spirit Day = Fancy Friday
You can find the calendar for the 2023-24 school year here. This may help with planning for next year!
Can't wait to see you all at Family Fun Night tonight! And don't forget the PTG general membership meeting on Tuesday 9/19 at 6:30 pm in the library!
Stay Connected
- Email us: mrnprairie.ptg@gmail.com
- Moran Prairie PTG Website: www.moranprairieptg.org
- Like us: www.facebook.com/MoranPrairiePTG/